Monday, 2 January 2017

In Iraq, Hollande Says Mosul Battle Can be Won 'before Summer'

In Iraq, Hollande Says Mosul Battle Can be Won 'before Summer'

Western support for military action against the Islamic
State group is key to preventing attacks at home, French President
Francois Hollande said Monday in Iraq, where yet another bombing killed
dozens. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car on a
square in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood, killing at least 32 people
in the latest attack on the Iraqi capital claimed by IS.

France, one of the most active members of the US-led
coalition fighting the Sunni extremist group, is particularly concerned
over the return of a large contingent of French jihadists from Syria and
Iraq.

"Taking action against terrorism here in Iraq is also
preventing acts of terrorism on our own soil," Hollande said at a base
where French soldiers have been training elite Iraqi forces.

Hollande, the only major Western head of state to have
visited Baghdad since the coalition was set up in 2014, stressed that
supporting Iraq was one of the surest ways of securing Europe.

Of European countries targeted by terror attacks claimed
or inspired by IS, France has been the worst hit, but attacks have also
been carried out in Belgium and Germany.

Besides the defeated jihadist fighters who are expected
to return to Europe in the coming months, radicalized children who grew
up in the "caliphate" IS proclaimed in 2014 are also seen as ticking
bombs.

"We will have to deal with the issue of the return of
foreign fighters... who committed crimes, who brought their families
with them, including in some cases very young children," Hollande said.

Since it joined the United States in the coalition in
September 2014, France says its warplanes have conducted 5,700 sorties,
around 1,000 strikes and destroyed more than 1,700 targets.

- 'Before summer' -

France has 14 Rafale fighter jets that are stationed in
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates and taking part in coalition
operations.

It also has 500 soldiers training and advising elite
Iraqi forces and CAESAR artillery vehicles stationed south of Mosul to
provide support for ongoing operations to retake the city.

Hollande met Iraqi President Fuad Masum, a Kurd, and
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, from the largest Shiite political bloc,
and called for reconciliation and unity after IS is defeated.

He then flew to the northern city of Arbil, the capital
of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, where he met local leader Massud
Barzani.

There, he said just before flying out of Iraq that he
was told during his meetings that the battle to retake Mosul, the last
major jihadist stronghold in the country, could last several more
months.

"It was confirmed to us that we could possibly achieve this goal in spring, in any case before summer," he said.

Hollande added that the focus would then move to Raqa, IS' other major bastion, in neighboring Syria.

"If Daesh is eradicated in Iraq but remains in Syria, we
know full well that acts will be carried out here in the Middle East
but also on our own soil in France, in Europe," he said.

- IS bombings -

Hollande began his trip with a visit to a base near
Baghdad where French forces are training Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism
Service, the force that has spearheaded most major anti-IS operations in
Iraq since 2014.

It was CTS that first breached the city limits of Mosul late last year in an effort to retake it from IS.

But the going has been tough for Iraqi forces, partly
because hundreds of thousands of civilians have remained in the city,
slowing their advance.

Abadi had promised his forces would rid the country of
IS by the end of 2016, but he said last week that three more months
would be needed to achieve that goal.

Some observers argue that the new timeline remains ambitious, given the continued IS presence in other parts of the country.

Hollande predicted Monday that 2017 would be "a year of
victories against terrorism" but, while its "caliphate" appears doomed,
IS still has the ability to sow chaos by attacking softer targets.

A suicide car bombing claimed by IS killed at least 32
people and wounded more than 60 Monday in Baghdad's Shiite-majority
district of Sadr City.

Police said the bomber struck on a square where daily
laborers were waiting for jobs, causing one of the highest casualty
tolls in the capital in months.

The jihadists claimed another bombing on Saturday that killed at least 27 people in a busy area of central Baghdad.